OK--let's try this again with a different picture hosting service. Just started rigging my wife's new Hobie Sport for fishing. After I had about got it finished, I remembered, hey, my wife doesn't fish! Dang--all that work for nothing--guess I will just have to use her Sport for fishing myself!

Compared to the Outback, we have three feet less space to work with. Thus, there is no room for both a full-size Wal-Mart type crate (with extra rod-holders attached) and an ice chest. Since I have been leaning more and more towards carrying less and less while on the water, this project gave me a good chance to try a more bare bones approach to carrying gear. Thus, the focal point for this project is the Igloo 25 quart marine cooler with SS fittings and tie-down loops on each side. A SS shackle is placed thru the tie-down loops, and short bungees with SS hooks (from West Marine) are knotted around each shackle. They are secured to the eyestraps in the gunwale trays on each side. As you can see, the Igloo 25 fits perfectly, and very snugly, in the rear tank well of the Sport. Looks to me like the Hobie engineers had this specific ice chest in mind when they drew up their plans for the Sport after deck.

This is a view of the Igloo cooler from the stern with the AFi 3 place rod-holder attached directly to it with SS machine screws. This rod-holder fits this cooler perfectly and has a number of features not usually found on a budget-priced rig. Note that the center rod-holder is a convenient spot to mount your C-light for night fishing. Although these lights have an excellent range, they must be mounted almost completely vertically for them to be visible at the maximum distance.

Here is a closer view of the AFi one-piece Tournament Rod Rack from West Marine (cost $15.99). It is made of polypropylene and has built-in slots for holding your pliers, knife, and assorted tackle. I thru-bolted it to the ice-chest with four #10 2-inch SS machine screws. The rod-holder came with four 1-inch #6 self-tapping screws, but I was not impressed with the potential holding power of these, and preferred to go the thru-bolt route. The arrangement of the gear in, and on, the rod-holder is strictly temporary to show how items can be placed. I will probably have the lures in my tackle box in the amidships hatch and have the knife and pliers closer to hand in the starboard gunnel tray.

One of the “hidden” features of this Igloo cooler is that you can prop the lid open as you see it here, and it stays open on its own. This gives you time to get your food, drinks, or gear in or out without having to use an extra hand to hold the lid open-very handy.

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Last edited by Apalach on Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hey Doc,
You're absolutely correct--the pics do not show up now on the Hobie site on either my Mac or on my PC. I was having a lot of trouble last night with the Fishing Forum Picture Processor, so much so that it finally quit working entirely. Thanks for the heads-up.

P.S. Turns out it is the Fishing Forum Picture Processor Web site--the whole site appears to be down, so none of my past pics on either this site or the KFS site are showing up-bummer! Hope it is nothing permanent!!

P.P.S. I contacted the Webmaster and it turns out they are shifting over to a new server today (Sat.). Supposed to be back up this evening, but in the mean time, I have shifted over to www.Photobucket.com for the above post. Quite a different format with their software, but perhaps some advantages as well. We shall see.

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Last edited by Apalach on Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Thanks for another excellent post, Apalach. As usual, your photos complete the story so well. Just wondering though... do you always spoil your Hobies by keeping them in the house instead of the garage like most of us? Also, will you be adding an Adventure to your stable of Mirage Drive fishing yaks? That's a sweet looking rig for sure!

Good observation Noal--in fact it provoked a huge fight with my wife. I mean, how could I put MY Outback on HER porch?! However, that was finally settled (without fisticuffs, I might add...), and now we have two Hobies on the porch!

The garage would have been good, but we have never been able to get even one car in it, let alone two due to it being packed with my shop, assorted camping and fishing gear, a chest-type freezer, the beerfrigerator, and just plain junk. However, I now have a Survivor-type map for newbies to navigate their way thru it. My present hundred-year plan calls for me to clean it out about year 98...